St. Louisans join others in support of Hillsboro transgender teen Lila Perry

Hundreds of St. Louisans have pledged to rally around Lila Perry, a transgender student at Jefferson County’s Hillsboro High School.

A gathering called “Lifting up Lila” was set for 5 p.m. Sept. 4, in Hillsboro City Park. Supporters want to have their say after a group of students walked out in protest Monday when Perry said she planned to use the girls’ bathrooms and locker room. On Thursday night, a group of parents asked the school board to create a policy about who can use what restrooms.

“It’s very important for us to make sure that we stay away from this idea that it’s about changing-rooms or any of that stuff; it’s about people living their lives and living those lives authentically and being themselves and being comfortable,” Keenan said.

Keenan hopes the gathering will help educate the public and also show other transgender teenagers they’re not alone.

‘We know that she’s not the only person going through this and that Hillsboro is not like a special ‘thing.’ It’s actually happening in other places,” Keenan said.

The event was not not meant to confrontational.

“It’s supposed to be uplifting. That’s part of the reason the title, ‘Lifting Up,’” Keenan said.

Keenan emphasized that students and parents who aren’t comfortable with Perry using the girls’ facilities are not simply being mean spirited.

“What’s happened is they’ve been socialized about certain ways to think about sex and gender,” Keenan said. “They’ve been conflating the two and pushing them together and saying, ‘These are the same things,’ and they’re not.”

What do transgender people have in common with each other? Often, the answer is, not all that much.

On Thursday, two days before PrideFest weekend, “St. Louis on the Air” listeners heard from two local transgender men who have very different stories to tell. The term “transgender man” refers to someone who was labeled female at birth but identifies as male.